Opinion: We can’t halt funding for AIDS relief

Readers' Forum
·2 min read
Kenyan girl guides holding U.S. and Kenyan flags await the arrival of the U.S. ambassador at a site supported by PEPFAR, the U.S. program to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, at the St John’s Community Centre in the Pumwani area of Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, March 10, 2018.
Kenyan girl guides holding U.S. and Kenyan flags await the arrival of the U.S. ambassador at a site supported by PEPFAR, the U.S. program to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, at the St John’s Community Centre in the Pumwani area of Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, March 10, 2018. | Ben Curtis, Associated Press

I sometimes succumb to thinking that our federal government is a distant monolith that cannot or will not respond to my concerns. I stand corrected.

I volunteer with some citizen advocacy organizations (RESULTS, USGLC, ONE Campaign), and recently went to Washington, D.C., to meet with Utah’s two senators and four congressmen and their staffs to urge them to reauthorize and continue to fund PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief). Since its inception in 2003 by President George W. Bush, this program has saved 25 million lives from HIV/AIDS. Currently, PEPFAR provides daily life support for 20 million persons (including 5 million children) in 50 of the world’s poorest countries.

With the recent debt ceiling negotiation, the funding for U.S. international health aid is at risk. I urged our representatives to view any decision to cut back the PEPFAR funding with all the dire seriousness of a decision to withdraw life support. Stopping that daily antiviral pill is “pulling the plug” on someone’s life.

Our representatives and their staffs clearly understand the seriousness and the need to continue to support the PEPFAR program. Sen. Mitt Romney cosigned a letter with 19 other senators urging the State Department to reauthorize PEPFAR. I would like to take credit for Romney’s decision, but I know that it was my voice added to a chorus of other concerned citizens’ voices that both informed and supported his decision. Thank you, sir.

Our country’s democratic process is often frustrating, but it feels good to know that my opinion is heard and can make a difference. Try it. Call your congressman.

William Cosgrove

Cottonwood Heights